Circus in winter
by kk200792
Summary: [AU] The Circus of Konoha. A circus known for its young, but expert performers. When a girl he cares about is chosen to perform an extremely dangerous act, Uchiha Sasuke doesn't know what to do. [Ch. 2 UP] [Sasusaku]
1. Autumn

Um… look, I know this chapter has a realllly boring start, but it'll get more circus-y soon, I promise!

And yes, I am aware that Sasuke is EXTREMELY OOC. He'll get more and more OOC actually… hehe…

I got the idea for this while watching Cirque du Soleil.

Disclaimer: I don't own a circus OR Naruto.

-&&&-

**Chappie 1: Autumn**

"Sakura! Time to get up!"

Haruno Sakura, dancer of the Circus of Konoha, awakened at the sound of her mother's voice; that voice that reminded her the day had begun. She groaned and groggily stepped out of the warm confines of her blankets.

"Yes mother, I heard you!"

Resembling a somewhat drunk person, she stumbled to her bathroom and brushed her teeth. She then smoothed down her short and glossy fairy floss hair, clipping on a little sakura petal shaped clip to keep hair out of her eyes. She dressed herself in her daily attire, grabbed her needed belongings for the day, shoved them in a small, red knapsack, and stepped out the door without breakfast.

"Mother, I'm leaving!"

"Okay. Have a safe trip, Sakura—wait! You haven't had breakfast!"

But it was too late. Sakura had already happily set off on her way.

-&&&-

It was near the end of autumn, so the air was crisp and leaves in the most beautiful shades of red and orange were falling from the maple trees around Konoha. These leaves never ceased to amaze Sakura, and seeing there was no-one about, she pulled her jacket tighter around her, and started to pick up armfuls of fallen leaves so that she could throw them up, and watch them float down around her. She giggled.

_Lucky no-one's here! Or I'd look like a silly little child!_

The teenager continued to throw the browned leaves about, laughing and not having a care in the world. It didn't matter if she was late… because autumn was always a magical time for her.

-&&&-

After about ten minutes of leaf throwing, an exhausted Sakura fell down onto the ground by a maple tree, and stared contentedly into the blue morning sky through the branches of the near-leafless tree. She sat up, leaning against the trunk, and shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, wishing she'd worn a thicker jacket.

"Sakura?"

The boy's voice shattered the silence of the atmosphere. It was Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke, the lead athlete of the Circus of Konoha. Uchiha Sasuke, who every girl admired, including herself. They'd known each other for more than ten years already, but her feelings for him had never changed. As her bright, emerald eyes met his somewhat concerned ones, he quickly looked away with an indifferent look on his face.

"What are you doing here all by yourself this early in the morning?"

"N-n-nothing. What about you?"

"Hn. Same… I was just taking a detour, that's all."

She sat there. He stood there. It was kind of… awkward.

Then Sakura's teeth started chattering.

"Sakura, are you cold or something?"

He watched the shivering girl on the ground and smirked.

"I guess there's no helping it."

Taking off his woollen scarf and jacket, he squatted and wrapped them around the cold, pink-haired girl. They were awfully big for her, but they would keep her warm. Sakura blushed furiously and looked at the dewy ground. They stood up together.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun! You don't have to do this!"

But the raven-haired boy had already started walking.

"Sakura, I'm not going to wait for you. I bet you didn't eat breakfast again. C'mon, I'll buy you some."

_Sasuke-kun… is treating me… to… to breakfast…? Has the world gone mad?_

Sakura couldn't believe her luck. She jogged up to Sasuke, who was now only wearing a loosely buttoned up shirt and jeans, and together they walked.

He looked across at her. There she was, almost a head shorter than him, her cheeks tinged pink from the cold, and wearing his jacket, of which the sleeves were way too long. The lead athlete almost laughed out loud, for she looked quite ridiculous.

What would today hold for the two young circus performers?


	2. Breakfast

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I forgot to explain this last time, but… since I didn't actually know what the names of the circus jobs were, I looked it up on the Cirque du Soleil site, and… well, 'Athletes' and 'Dancers' might sound weird, but it's what they're really called. Sorry for any confusion!

Athlete IS Someone who has experience with women or men flyers in doubles or trios. (umm… so in other words, the people who hold people up by their feet/are held up by their feet by another athlete.)

Dancer IS A person who dances a dance, whether it be from near or far, modern, classic, or ethnic. (This kind of speaks for itself. xD)

Also, XXDragonheart6XX reminded me. Um… this story isn't about one of those small, travelling circuses with normal acts – like, a circus for parents to take their kids. I'd say this is more about one of those 'serious' kind of circuses… you know what I mean? With professional, well-trained, downright _serious_ performances. xD

Oh… and sorry, but there isn't exactly anything circus-y in this chapter either. It's coming, I swear it!

Watch out for OOC-ness!

Disclaimer: ME OWNS NOTHING.

Okay… enough with the explaining! Here comes the next chapter!

-&&&-

**Chappie 2: Breakfast**

Sasuke and Sakura walked to a café that was near the building in which they learnt, performed, and basically spent the majority of their day. It was a small, cosy café, with polite waiters and waitresses, and the pancakes there were known all around Konoha for their deliciousness.

As they walked in, a small bell attached to the glass door chimed, alerting the workers of their new customers' presence.

"Welcome to our shop!"

Two waitresses led the teens to an empty table in the corner. One handed out the menus, then walked away to serve some other customers, while the other took out a notepad decorated with flowers.

"What would you like to order?"

_Well, seeing as it _is_ breakfast time, I might as well try these famous pancakes._

The girl smiled. She looked at the boy sitting across from her, browsing the menu. She still couldn't believe _the_ Uchiha Sasuke was buying her breakfast.

"Um… Sasuke-kun, if it's alright…"

"Sakura, I already said I would buy you breakfast."

"O-okay…"

She glanced up at the smiling waitress.

"Can I please have a pancake?"

"Sure!"

The waitress scribbled down the order. Sasuke cut in.

"Err… make that two, please."

The waitress crossed out the first order on her floral notepad and wrote '2 pancakes' instead. It wasn't exactly the hardest order to remember though…

"Thankyou for ordering! Your order should be ready in a few minutes!"

And with that she skipped off into the kitchen to inform the chefs of the two teenagers' orders.

_A pancake shouldn't be that hard to make…_

-&&&-

Sasuke stared at the cream-coloured wall. It was well painted, he had to admit. Totally flawless and smooth. He wanted to avoid the eyes of the girl sitting across from him. He had always thought that her gaze was too pure; too angelic, and if he was caught in it, he wouldn't know how to free himself.

He stared for a good three minutes, while Sakura shyly looked at the tiled floor.

-&&&-

"Your pancakes are here!"

The waitress' sing-song voice could be heard as she skipped around tables and chairs with two plates of pancakes.

_How does she do that without dropping them?_

"Breakfast is served!"

She placed the two plates on the table. The aroma was irresistible.

"What toppings would you like?"

"I'd like strawberry jam… and maple syrup, please!"

"I'll have mine plain."

The two girls stared at Sasuke unbelievingly.

"Excuse me sir, but aren't you going to take advantage of the _best_ pancake-selling café in all of Konoha?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself."

The waitress left with a huff, and then shortly returned with a small packet of strawberry jam and maple syrup.

"Miss, please tell your boyfriend how… ugh! There's no word to describe it! No one who has ordered pancakes from this café has ever eaten them plain!"

And the waitress stormed off into the kitchen.

"B-B-Boyfriend?"

Sakura flushed beet red. Sasuke blushed also, but he made sure Sakura couldn't see the light red colour tinting his cheeks. Uchiha Sasuke blushing just wasn't normal.

Sakura started using a plastic fork and knife to cut her pancake into bite-sized portions.

"Tch. That waitress was… weird. Itadakimasu."

"Wait! Sasuke-kun, are you really going to eat that flavourless?"

Sasuke's dark orbs met her sparkling emerald ones. It wasn't something to be concerned over, but Sakura really didn't want Sasuke to miss out on an opportunity like this.

Sasuke didn't really like seeing Sakura worried, even if it was over him eating a pancake without some sort of topping. He closed his eyes and let out an uncomfortable sigh.

"A-alright."

He reached over, took Sakura's jam packet and opened it. The Uchiha noticed a smile spread across the young girl's face, and her eyes lit up.

"That's my favourite topping, you know, Sasuke-kun."

The girl blushed cutely and continued to dribble maple syrup over her cut up pancake.

Sasuke spread strawberry jam evenly over his pancake, cut off a bit of it, and put it in his mouth.

"This tastes…"

Sakura was watching him with an expectant and hopeful look on her face.

"This tastes…"

Fireworks were going off in the teenager's mouth. He'd never tasted anything like it! The pancake wasn't too dry or too moist. It wasn't burnt, and it was already dusted lightly with cinnamon. The strawberry jam was also perfect. It wasn't watery or thick, neither was it too sweet. It was rich in flavour, and its sweetness mixed with the warm pancake was just… faultless. It was absolutely perfect. Of course Sasuke wouldn't show how delighted he was about the flavoured pancake, but he smiled. It was one of those Uchiha Sasuke smiles. Not exactly a toothy grin, but it was certainly different to his trademark smirk.

"…delicious."

Sakura let out a relieved sigh and contentedly continued to eat her pancake, as did Sasuke.

-&&&-

Sakura and Sasuke finished eating at around the same time, and they waited for the bill. It was a different waitress to the one who had gotten angry at Sasuke before.

"That'll be six dollars, thankyou!"

Sasuke handed her a five dollar note and a dollar coin.

The waitress bowed.

"Please come eat here again sometime!"

With that, Sasuke and Sakura walked out of the store.

-&&&-

They met a sudden change in temperature as they stepped out of the warm and cosy café.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun!"

The boy looked over at Sakura to see her taking off his jacket and scarf.

"Th-thankyou for these. I think I'm warm enough now."

She handed them across to him, neatly folded, with her head down. Sasuke put his jacket and scarf back on.

_It smells like cinnamon._

The boy smiled. He felt all warm inside. It could've been because he had just eaten the most delicious pancake in the world, but then again… it also could've been because he was spending time with that pink-haired friend of his. He actually enjoyed it, and a time ago, Sasuke thought he'd never appreciate anyone's company.

"And um… thankyou so much for buying me breakfast!"

The dancer bowed.

"No... Sakura, I should say… thankyou for accompanying me."

And he turned to look at her with such warmth in his eyes. Warmth which Sakura had never seen before. She gazed back at him. Time seemed to stop as Sasuke reached for Sakura's delicate hand. The browned maple leaves continued to magically float down around them.

The raven-haired boy blushed.

"We-we should do this again sometime."

"Yeah. We should!"

The two adolescents shyly looked at the ground for a moment.

"Now, we better not be late for work, Sakura."

"You're right. Let's go!"

So they cheerfully walked, hand in hand, towards the large building that housed memories and dreams, as well as a whole lot of circus equipment.

-&&&-

They were greeted by Tsunade, the founder and chief executive officer of the Circus of Konoha. Their hands left each others' like they were on fire. Well, that's how their faces felt.

"Tsunade-sama, good morning!"

"Good morning you two…"

The adult suspiciously eyed the two blushing teens and then decided to dismiss any ideas she got about their relationship.

"Well, it's good that I found you two together."

"Eh? Why is that?"

Tsunade smiled mischievously. Sasuke and Sakura began to feel uneasy.

"I need you two to do something for me…"


End file.
